The following visiting arrangements came into force on Monday 8 January
Please keep our patients and staff safe by not visiting if you are unwell.
Core principals of our visiting policy
Our Visiting Policy has been developed following feedback from patients, carers, visitors, public and staff to provide person-centred care.
We recognise our patients should have the opportunity to receive visiting to enhance their recovery and wellbeing. Equally our staff need to ensure our patients can rest, feel safe and have their privacy and dignity maintained. Therefore, our visiting arrangements vary across our services depending on the nature of the area, as well as whether you are a ‘visitor’ or a ‘Care Partner’.
You may be advised by staff to wear a face mask if:
- The patient you’re visiting has a suspected of confirmed respiratory illness.
- The patient you are visiting is highly vulnerable e.g. immunocompromised.
- You have cold symptoms but are well enough to visit.
Care Partner
We recognise the vital role that carers play in ensuring the health and well-being of those they care for. Therefore, we are introducing Care Partners as part of our visiting arrangements.
This is someone who supports or cares, unpaid, for a friend or family member. It is usually the person who the patient wants to support them in times of need or distress.
If you have been identified as a Care Partner, you will have open access to visit when required by the patient.
Carers may not always perceive themselves as carers and may just consider themselves as partners, relatives or friends. Staff are expected to help carers recognise the extent of their involvement and commitment so that their needs as carers can be assessed and supported.
The Trusts Policy regarding Carers remains unchanged and our partnership work with the Carers Support Centre continues. Yellow lanyards and Yellow Carer Identification Badges remain available for visitors recognised as a carer to a patient. Please see the link below for more information on the Carers’ Support Centre.
https://carerssupportcentre.com/
Inpatient areas of our hospitals
Patients are welcome to have two visitors join them during visiting hours from 11am to 8pm.
Areas with no daily visiting schedules
For the following areas only a Care Partner – one person – is allowed to support the patient when required. There are no daily visiting arrangements in place:
- Emergency Departments
- Same Day Emergency Care Units
- Diagnostic Investigation Unit
- Chemotherapy Day Units
- Endoscopy Units
- Surgical Day Case Units
- Diagnostics Areas
- Outpatient Clinics
Intensive Care and High Dependency Areas
For those receiving critical and high dependency care it is vital to ensure a balance of delivering extraordinarily high levels of treatment and care and ensuring families are able to visit. In light of this, visiting within these areas will be as follows:
- 1pm – 4pm and 6pm – 9pm daily – two visitors per patient
Discharge Lounges
Please note – our Discharge Lounges are not classed as inpatient ward areas and do not allow visiting due to limited space.
Maternity Wards
We welcome the support and inclusion of families during a woman’s stay, therefore all areas recognise the flexible visiting times of 11am to 8pm. Children of birthing women are additional to the 2 visitors and welcomed, equally birth partners are additional to the 2 visitors.
To promote the best birth experience Maternity Services, support the Care Partner role detailed below:
- A partner or one Care Partner for support (such as a family member or friend) is welcome to accompany women to all antenatal appointments (in the community and in the hospital) if the partner is unable to attend.
- A partner or one Care Partner for support (such as a family member or friend) is welcome to be present for scans.
- A partner or one Care Partner for support (such as a family member or friend) can accompany women if they are staying in the maternity units at any point during the pregnancy and can stay beyond these hours if the woman requires this.
- A second birth partner is welcome during labour and birth. Please note one birth partner can accompany women for their caesarean birth.
Children and young people’s wards
- Parents, grandparents, partners of parents and siblings have open access visiting.
- Other family members can visit between 11am and 8pm daily and two visitors may visit at any one time.
Neonatal Units
- Parents, grandparents, partners of parents and siblings have open access visiting.
- Other family members can visit between 9am and 6pm with the agreement from the Ward Sister/Nurse in Charge and two visitors may visit at any one time.
Goole hospital
Visiting on Ward 3 and Ward 6 is between 11am and 8pm, unless you are identified as a Care Partner.
Goole Neuro-Rehabilitation Unit welcome carers and Care Partners and works with patients to develop person centred visiting plans.
For all the following areas one person is allowed to support the patient when required, how daily visiting times are nor in place:
- Endoscopy Unit on Ward 6
- Surgical Day Case Unit on Ward 6
- Outpatient clinics
Safe Visiting
We work hard to ensure patients, staff and visitors are kept safe, therefore we:
- Encourage people to use hand hygiene facilities provided before and after visiting to minimise infection risks.
- If requested to do so, a face mask is to be worn in ward areas.
- If you have had symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting with the last 72 hours, please do no visit.
- May ask visitors to leave if they visit wearing uniforms worn from other health care settings, such as residential home.
- Do not allow the use of mobile phone or other devised for filming or photography of our patients and staff without consent. Visitors will be asked to remove any unauthorised images as per our Trust policy.
- May ask visitors displaying inappropriate behaviours to leave and future visiting may not be permitted.
As ever, we ask for one person to contact the ward for updates and share information with family and friends with the permission of the patient. This will help keep our staff free to provide care to your loved one and other patients.
